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REPORT AND RESOLUTIONS 

OF THE 

PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY 

RESPECTING 

THE INTRODUCTION OF THE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM 

IN THE STUDIES OF THE MATHEMATICS, 

LATIN, AND GREEK : 

AND ALSO 



THE REPORT OF THE VISITING COMMITTEE 

OF THE / 

BOARD OF OVERSEERS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY 

ON THE 

STATE OF THAT SEMINARY JANUARY, 1841. 




PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF OVERSEERS. 



CAMBRIDGE: 
FOLSOM, WELLS, AND THURSTON, 

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 

1841. 







Board of Overseers, Jan. 2lst, 1841. 

The President of the University presented for concurrence cer- 
tain votes of the Corporation, respecting changes in the study of 
the Classics ; 

Whereupon, on motion of Rev. Dr. Parkman, the Hon. Theoph- 
ilus Parsons, Hon. James Duncan, and Hon. James Savage were 
appointed a Committee to take into consideration the Report now 
submitted by the Corporation, that said Committee be directed to 
confer with the gentlemen of the immediate government, charged 
with Classical Instruction in the College, and report at the adjourn- 
ed meeting of the Overseers. 

On motion of the Hon. Theophilus Parsons, it was 

Voted, That the Report made by the Hon. John Pickering be 
accepted and referred to the Corporation, with a request that the 
same be printed, together with the Report from the Corporation, 
respecting the introduction of the voluntary system in the studies of 
Mathematics, Latin, and Greek, and the Resolutions annexed to 
that Report, and distributed among the members of this Board 
before the next meeting. 

Attest, JOHN PIERCE, Secretary. 



At a meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, 
held August 19th, 1839 ; 

The President, on the subject of the changes made in the Math- 
ematical Department, by virtue of the Vote passed on the 26th of 
May, 1838, — respectfully 

REPORTS: 

That the liberty to discontinue the study of the Mathematics 
at the end of the Freshman year, has been found highly accep- 
table to both the Students and their parents, and been attended 
thus far with none of the ill consequences anticipated ; few or 
none qualified to make any important proficiency in the Mathe- 
matics, having, it is believed, discontinued altogether ; and from 
the numbers who chose the second and the highest course, there 
is reason to conclude that the election which has been given, 
has had a direct tendency to encourage those capable of profit- 
ing by the study of that branch, to pursue it, and to stimulate 
those, who possess decided mathematical talents, to aim at acquir- 
ing a knowledge of its most abstruse and difficult parts. In a 
class of fifty-five, only eight discontinued the study of Mathe- 
matics, and of the remaining forty -seven, thirty-two took the first 
course, three the second course, and twelve the third course, 
during the first term. In the second term, the class being re- 
duced to forty-eight by disciphne and taking up connexions, 
six only discontinued the study, and of the remaining forty-two, 
twenty-seven took the first course, four the second course, and 
eleven the third course. The result is considered by the head 
of that department, as proving most decidedly the superiority 
of the voluntary system, and the practicability of adapting dif- 
ferent courses of instruction to different classes of students, and 
as being in a high degree satisfactory and successful, and as prom- 
ising great advantages by the new opportunity the elective sys- 
tem offers, of introducing improvements in the details of instruc- 
tion. 



The success of this experiment on the effect the elective sys- 
tem of study in the Mathematical Department, has revived the 
wish of those friendly to its introduction into the other depart- 
ments, and particularly into those of Greek and Latin. Both 
the Professors in these departments have expressed their con- 
currence in such a change, and their opinion that the effect 
would be rather to elevate and extend attainments in these 
branches, than to lower and reduce them. 

In conforming with these views, the President respectfully 
submits a series of Resolutions, founded upon the same general 
principles heretofore adopted in relation to the Mathematical 
Department, for the consideration of this Board. 

JOSIAH QUINCY. 

Cambridge, August 15th, 1839. 



Voted, That this Report be accepted, and that the following 
Resolutions be adopted. 

Resolved, 1. That every Student who has completed, dur- 
ing the Freshman year, the studies required by the laws of the 
University, in the Greek and Latin Departments for that year, 
and shall have passed a satisfactory examination in them, and 
shall be recommended by the Examining Committee and his In- 
structors for the privilege of election in such branch, respec- 
tively may discontinue the study of either or both branches, at 
the end of the Freshman year, at the written request of his 
parent, or guardian, (if under age) made with a full knowledge 
of his standing as a scholar, in each branch respectively, of the 
future studies in each department, and of those to be substituted 
for them. 

Resolved, 2. That those Students, who continue in the 
study of either, or both branches after the commencement of 
the Sophomore year, may choose either of the following cour- 
ses : — the first course to continue through the Sophomore and 
Junior years ; — the second course to extend through the Sen- 
ior year, and particularly designed for those who wish to become 
accomplished scholars, or to qualify themselves thoroughly to 
instruct in classical schools and colleges. 



6 

Resolved, 3. That those who pursue the first or second 
course, in either department, shall receive in addition to the 
usual diploma, a special certificate expressing the studies each 
has respectively pursued. 

Resolved, 4. That those Students who discontinue the study 
of Greek or Latin, shall choose as a substitute one or more of 
the following branches : — Natural History ; Civil History ; 
Chemistry ; Geology ; Geography, and the Use of the Globes ; 
Popular Astronomy ; Modern Languages, Modern Oriental 
Literature ; or studies in either Greek or Latin, which may not 
have been discontinued, in addition to the prescribed course in 
such branch. The times and order of these studies will depend 
on the convenience of the Instructors, and the decision of the 
Faculty, and each Student will be required to engage in such a 
number of studies as shall, in the judgment of the Faculty, be 
sufficient reasonably to occupy his whole lime. 

Resolved, 5. That those Students who have not at the 
commencement of the Sophomore year, completed the Greek 
or Latin studies, required in the Freshman year, will be allowed 
the same choice with the others as to their regular studies. But 
in addition to these regular studies, and in place of a voluntary 
study, which in this case will not be allowed, they shall, unless 
excused by a special vote of the Faculty, continue the Greek or 
Latin, in which they are deficient, until they have completed 
those required in the Freshman yedr. 

Voted, That the President lay before the Overseers, the 
foregoing Resolutions, that they may approve the same if they 
see fit. 



To THE Honorable and Reverend, the Board of Overseers 
OF Harvard University. 

The Committee appointed on the 20th day of October, 1840, " to 
make report of the condition of the University," beg leave, in 
discharge of their commission, to submit the following 

REPORT. 

The Committee having, during the past year, in the months 
of May and October, made the usual examinations of the con- 
dition of the University, and as much in detail as was practica- 
ble ; and the results of their examinations, as derived from in- 
quiries made of different members of the Faculty, and from the 
particular Reports furnished by the several instructors, are now 
submitted in the following Abstract^ accompanied by the Re- 
ports of the President and the several instructors, which accom- 
panying papers the Committee beg leave to offer as a part of 
their Report. 

The Reports of the President of the University, of May 5th 
and October 20th, 1840, state, that the condition of the Univer- 
sity during the whole of the Academic year preceding, has been 
in a high degree satisfactory ; and the general conduct of the 
undergraduates has indicated a respect for the laws and for their 
instructors as well as a disposition to avail themselves of the ad- 
vantages which they enjoy at this Institution. 

The results of the examinations in the several departments of 
study, may be conveniently arranged under the following heads. 

The Faculty of Theology. 
In this department the Committee have Reports from the 
Rev. Dr. Ware, senior, Hollis Professor of Divinity, and from 



8 

the Rev. Dr. Ware, junior, Professor of Pulpit Eloquence 
and the Pastoral Care ; comprehending their attendance on the 
Students of the Divinity School, and on the Undergraduates 
of the University. It appears, that the number of Students in 
the Divinity School was twenty-four, and that their attention to 
their duties had been satisfactory. 

Professor Ware, junior, was, during the year, charged with 
the duty of instructing the Junior class of Undergraduates, in 
Paley's Evidences of Christianity and Butler's Analogy ; and 
also gave a weekly course of lectures for a part of the time to 
the Senior class, on the Literary and Critical History of the 
New Testament. In addition to these duties, he occupied two 
mornings in the week, with exercises in Elocution, and one 
written lecture on Preaching, in the Divinity School. He also 
preached three fourths of the time on the Sabbath, in the Uni- 
versity Chapel, and attended the daily prayers there, morning 
and evening. 

No Report has been returned from the Department of Bibli- 
cal Literature, in consequence of that professorship being va- 
cant by the resignation of the Rev. Dr. Palfrey, in April, 
1839, and the vacancy having been but recently supplied, by the 
appointment of the Rev. Dr. Noyes, who has just entered 
upon the duties of his office. In the intervening period, the du- 
ties of this professorship were discharged in part by Professor 
Adam, as instructor in the Hebrew and Arabic languages, and in 
part by extra attendance of the other Professors of this depart- 
ment. Professor Adam, however, resigned his office in August 
last ; since which time the Committee are not informed of any 
distinct provision having been specifically made for instruction 
in the Oriental languages. 

The Faculty of Law. 

The number of Students in the Law School, in the month of 
May, 1840, was seventy-two, and in the month of October fol- 
lowing, was ninety-nine ; of whom, one was from Quebec, one 
from Ireland, and the remainder from twenty-one of the States 
of the Union. In the month of July, the whole number was 
one hundred and three. 

The Students are arranged in four classes ; two of which are 



under the care of the Dane Professor of Law, and two under 
that of the Royall Professor. 

The exercises consist of recitations and oral lectures, daily ; 
with two extra lectures a week, on the Constitution of the Unit- 
ed States, and exercises in drawing pleadings. 

A moot court is also held weekly, at which the practice of 
trials in courts of law is exemplified, from the commencement 
of the suit to final judgment ; one of the Professors presiding as 
judge in the court. 

The Royall Professor reports, that the attendance of the Law 
Students was in general satisfactory ; but, as excuses for every 
absence are not required, a more detailed report in this particu- 
lar cannot be given. 

As connected with the two preceding Departments, the Com- 
mittee here add, the Report of the Alford Professor of Natural 
Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity. 

Instruction is given by that Professor to the Junior and Sen- 
ior classes, who read forensic disputations weekly, and to the 
Sophomore class, who are heard by him in the usual mode of 
recitations from a Text-Book. The Text-Books used in this 
department are Locke on the Human Understanding, and 
Cousin's Review of Locke's Essay, Say's Political Economy, 
and the principal parts of Story's Commentaries on the Consti- 
tution. 

The recitations and other exercises of the Students in this de- 
partment are accompanied by oral elucidations of the Professor ; 
but his object has been, as he observes in one of his Reports, 
" not so much to indoctrinate the Students in any system of 
Philosophy, as to make them acquainted with all the systems, 
and to imbue them with a philosophic spirit." 

The Faculty of Medicine. 
The Report of the Hersey Professor of Anatomy states, that 
the Anatomical Collection is in good order ; that no losses or in- 
juries have occurred (with one shght exception, supposed to be 
accidental ;) that, during the year, an addition has been made to 
the Collection, of a number of valuable preparations in Compar- 
ative Anatomy, and that arrangements are made for still further 
enlarging it by a systematic collection of the Crania of Animals. 
2 



10 

The Professor of Materia Medica reports, that the usual 
courses of lectures on Materia Medica, and on Clinical Medicine, 
have been delivered to a Medical class of fifty-five Students. 

The Professor of Surgery and Clinical Surgery has also de- 
livered the usual course of lectures at the Medical College, in 
Boston, and has also visited the Hospital, with the Students, 
once a week. The number attending was fifty-five. 

The Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic 
has also delivered the annual course of lectures in his depart- 
ment, at the Medical College. 

The Professor of Midwifery and Medical Jurisprudence re- 
ports, that the usual course of lectures has been given by him 
to fifty-six Students. 

Ancient Languages and Literature. 

Greek. In the Greek Department, the Eliot Professor re- 
ports, that he had under his charge the Junior and Sophomore 
classes; that their exercises consisted of recitations, from the 
established Text-Books, accompanied by oral lectures on the 
several authors ; and every fortnight a composition in the Greek 
language is required. A volunteer section of the Senior class 
also attended him twice a week, in recitations from authors se- 
lected with a view to a higher course of study, than that pursu- 
ed by the younger classes. 

The Freshmen class was under the care of the Greek tutor, 
and has been divided into sections arranged on the principle of 
proficiency, who recite from the established books assigned to 
that part of the College course, and also write Greek Exercises, 
and are examined in Grecian Antiquities. 

At the close of the term in May last, a thorough examination 
was made by some of the members of this Committee, which 
continued for three days with the Sophomore class, and two days 
with the Juniors ; and the result was highly satisfactory. The 
Professor reports, also, that the attention of the classes, and their 
demeanor, had been highly satisfactory, and the number of ab- 
sences unusually small. 

Latin. The course of studies in the department of the Latin 
language has been conducted on similar principles with that of 
the Greek department, — the upper classes being under the 



11 

charge of the Professor, and the Freshmen, under the Tutor of 
this department. 

One section of ten Seniors are pursuing a voluntary course 
calculated to prepare them for the office of Classical Instructors. 

The Professor adds, that the attention of the classes has gen- 
erally been satisfactory ; and that if any individual is found de- 
ficient in his exercises, he is required to study during the vaca- 
tion. 

Modern Languages and Literature. 

The Smith Professor of this Department reports, that instruc- 
tion has been given to the following number of Students : 

In French, - - - - 117 

Spanish, - - - - 35 

Italian, - , _ _ 34 

German, - - - - 61 

Portuguese, - -, - 5 
making in all, two hundred and fifty-two. 

During the second terra of the year, the aggregate number of 
Students was about the same ; but they were differently appor- 
tioned among the different languages. This was in consequence 
of a change made during the year, by which the French lan- 
guage is now one of the regular studies of the University course, 
and is commenced with the Freshman class ; and during the first 
three years no voluntary study is allowed in the place of any 
other. 

In the Senior year the Student is allowed to study as many 
Modern languages as he chooses ; but he receives no distinctive 
marks on that account in the scale of rank. 

Rhetoric and Oratory. 

The instruction in this Department is given by the Boylston 
Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, and a Teacher of Elocution. 
The exercises are ; Reading and Speaking, every week, English 
Composition every fortnight, by each Student of the three up- 
per classes ; public lectures on Rhetoric and Criticism ; de- 
clamations weekly, before the respective classes ; and exercises 
in Logic. 

The Professor reports, that the attention of the Students, 



12 

in his Department, has been such as to deserve " especial no- 
tice." 

History. 

The Professor of this Department is now absent in Europe, 
where, it is understood, he is engaged in extensive researches in 
American History. During the second term of the last aca- 
demic year, he delivered a course of two lectures a week to 
the Senior and Junior classes, and to the Senior class a course 
of one lecture a week, on American History. The Tutor of the 
department reports, that the Freshman class has pursued its 
course of ^indent History, and the Sophomore class a course of 
English History, they having elected the study of History in- 
stead of Mathematics. 

The Text-Book has been accompanied with oral explanations 
of the instructor, and comparisons of the different accounts given 
of the same transactions, and events by different historians. 

Miithemaiics and Natural Philosophy. 

This Department is under the charge of the University Pro- 
fessor and the HoUis Professor of Mathematics. 

The Freshmen are instructed in Geometry, Algebra, and 
plain Trigonometry ; and the other classes by the University 
Professor in the various higher branches of pure and mixed 
Mathematics, according to their collegiate standing. 

In physical science, lectures are given in the usual branches, 
accompanied with experimental illustrations, by means of an ex- 
tensive and well adapted collection of philosophical instruments 
in the various subdivisions of what is popularly called Natural 
Philosophy. Particular attention has for some time past been 
given to Astronomical Science ; buildings have been lately 
erected and fitted up with improved instruments for astronomical 
observations. In astronomy, the Senior class, divided into three 
sections, according to their tastes and proficiency, are under the 
particular charge of the Hollis Professor, who is now enabled 
to embrace in his lectures a general and full course of instruc- 
tion in this important branch of science. 

In connexion with the Department of Physical Science, 
though it may not be considered strictly as a part of the Univer- 



13 

sity course of instruction, it may not be improper to add, that 
recently a Magnetic Observatory has been established for the 
important purpose of obtaining a series of minute and exact 
observations and useful results in relation to Terrestrial Mag- 
netism. This Observatory, under the charge of William C. 
Bond, Esq., assisted by the Hollis Professor of Mathematics, is 
to act in cooperation with similar foreign observatories according 
to a systematic plan adopted by the Scientific Institutions of 
Europe, for the purpose of making the most thorough investiga- 
tions of a subject, which now deeply engages the attention of 
the whole scientific world. The observations at our University 
aie to be made in conjunction with the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences. 

From this very general view of the state of the University, 
and the course of studies there pursued, it must be apparent, 
that if it shall happen, that any Student leaves the institution 
without having reaped the advantages of a solid and useful edu- 
cation, adapted to the present demands of our country, it will 
have proceeded, not from the want of the requisite means of 
mental cultivation, but from 'his own want of fidelity to himself. 

In making this remark, however, the Committee would not be 
understood as intimating, that the University has already reach- 
ed a point of excellence where it may be content to rest, or 
that its system of instruction is nbt susceptible of still higher im- 
provement, — for such a degree of perfection does not belong to 
any human institution, — but, that material improvements have 
been gradually made, to such an extent, as to give this seminary, 
at the present day, many advantages over the means of instruc- 
tion which it possessed at former periods. 

Superficial observers, who measure the value of education by 
its direct capacity of being turned into money, or the immediate 
supply of the physical wants of man, and not by its moral ef- 
fects on the constituent elements of human society, are frequent- 
ly disposed to undervalue some of the departments of knowl- 
edge, — particularly ancient literature, — which have always been 
cherished, and justly so, as an essential part of the University 
course. Those departments of study are too often stigmatized 
as antiquated, and not adapted to the " spirit of the a^e " ; 
while an urgent call is made for what is designated by the vague 



14 

and undefined name of useful knowledge. Such persons seem 
to mistake the true purpose of a University education ; which 
is, not to quahfy a young man for any one particular profession, 
or business, but to develope the powers of his mind, and to store 
it with all that general information in science and literature which 
shall be really useful to him, by its permanent influence, in any 
station in life. 

To educate the intellectual powers of a youth in the con- 
tracted manner which would be a consequence of rejecting some 
of the established parts of the present system, would be per- 
verting the order of nature, as much as to train his physical 
powers from childhood tq maturity by exercising only a hand, 
or an arm, or other limb exclusively upon a single object requir- 
ing the application of muscular power, instead of educating the 
whole body in such a manner as to insure the most complete 
developement of the entire man, and thus produce a physical 
whole adapted to the various objects requiring the use of his 
physical powers.. 

It has been justly observed, " that the arts and studies which 
relate to the improvement of manufiictures, and to the raising and 
multiplying the means of subsistence, terminate merely in the 
corporeal enjoyments of man" ; but that, however necessary, 
their results are not of the first order of good, nor are they the 
principal ends of human life. Neither necessity, nor the capa- 
city of being applied to the physical accommodation, or improve- 
ment of the machinery of life " can be taken as the measure of 
what is really excellent and useful. It is in his intellectual, and 
especially in his moral and social nature, and in those studies 
which advance and correct it, that we must think of man as he 
deserves, and estimate the value of his pursuits ; there is a culti- 
vation of mind, which is in itself a good of the highest order, 
whhout any immediate reference to bodily appetites or wants of 
any kind ; and it is idle to condemn studies as frivolous, because 
they do not immediately tend to what is called practical good." 
If useful knowledge is understood to be confined to such as will 
enable a man to advance himself in the world, and provide for 
his family, it may be comprised in a very narrow compass. 
" How few (it has been justly observed) out of the whole num- 
ber that pass through our schools, make a direct application to 



15 

practical purposes of the results of those lessons, of which the 
usefulness is never called in question. How many men pass 
through hfe, checking their weekly bills, summing up their bank- 
er's book, calculating the rate of interest which any proposed 
investment may offer, without having the power of applying any 
of the complicated rules of arithmetic which were deemed an 
essential and useful part of their school education ; addition, 
subtraction, and multiplication, without even the now discarded 
Rule of Three, accomplish the whole work." 

Does any one deny the usefulness of the study of the exact 
sciences to mankind at large ? Early education, it is true, may 
do but little for some favored individuals ; the genius of Frank- 
lin and a few others of our race can triumph over every obsta- 
cle ; such men are their own schoolmasters. But " the true 
question is, the ordinary use, in the common affairs of life, of 
that superficial acquaintance with the elements of science, which 
is, and must be the portion of the great, majority of mankind." 
If we except the occasional use pf a' little JFrench for conver- 
sation (in our country, of rare use) and the elements of num- 
bers, " with perhaps Latin enough to understand, the most com- 
mon words and phrases, — of what more can We prove the ac- 
tual indispensable necessity } " 

If, however, scientific studies claim their high rank and their 
right to be cultivated as an exercise to develope and strengthen 
the reasoning powers, — to raise the human race in the scale of 
being, we then lose sight of that practical usefulness to which 
all early studies are referred, and abandon the assumed standard 
of practical utility as the measure of intellectual value ; if then 
we must admit into our estimate of usefulness the general im- 
provement, enlargement, and refinement of the mind, we must 
ask an admission on at least equal terms for ancient learning, 
and all the preparatory training necessarily connected with it. 

Such are the principles upon which the system of education 
at our University has been established. And, (to adopt the 
language of its able historian and head,) " after the lapse of two 
centuries, it may be asserted with truth, that the noble purposes 
of the clergy and laity, the founders of New England and its 
Institutions, have not failed. The light, first kindled by the mu- 
nificence of Harvard, has spread onward to our own time, illu- 



16 



029 934 355 8 # 



minating the course of our fathers, and concentrating a brighter 
radiance on the paths of their children. May it continue and 
shine more and more to the perfect day ! May the glorious 
fabric of civil and religious liberty, raised by the first Pilgrims, 
rest, and for ever stand, where they placed it, — on the deep 
foundations of SOUND LEARNING." * 



All v^rhich is respectfully submitted, by order of the Commit- 



tee. 



JNO. PICKERING, Chairman. 
Boston^ January 21s^, 1841. 

* President Quincy's History of the University, Vol. II. p. 457. 



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